During the recession, issues of women, work and fairness, including campaigns for equal pay have come to the fore. The TUC’s report on ‘Womenand Recession’ states that women are contributing an increasing proportion of the household income. But whilst women are contributing more than before financially, they are around 13% more likely to be in a low paid job than men, with many women working in part-time jobs which are often the lowest paid and least secure roles. It’s in this context that Unions21′s work on Fair Work is particularly important.

The Fair WorkCommission polling on fair pay, conducted by Survation, reflects the disparity in wages. When participants were asked to rank the fairness of decisions about their pay, 3.3% more men than women thought them ‘very fair’. Women were found to be 6% more likely than their male counterparts to rate the decisions made over pay as ‘quite unfair’. The net figure (7.1% more women than men rating decisions as unfair) demonstrates a clear gender difference of opinion over pay fairness. Read More…

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